rapidity, forced
the Turks into more comfortable positions. The enemy, too, had some
well-served guns, and they plastered the spurs leading to the crest
from the west, but our infantry's audacity never faltered, and
after we had got into the first lines on the hill our men proceeded
methodically to rout out the machine guns from their nooks and
crannies. This was a somewhat lengthy process, but small parties
working in support of each other gradually crushed opposition, and
the huge rocky rampart was ours by three o'clock in the afternoon.
Meanwhile two brigades of the Anzac Mounted Division were moving
eastwards from Muntar over the hills and wadis down to the Dead Sea,
whence turning northwards they marched towards Nebi Musa to try to
get on to the Jordan valley flats to threaten the Turks in rear. The
terrain was appallingly bad and horses had to be led, the troops
frequently proceeding in Indian file. No guns could be got over the
hills to support the Anzacs, and when they tried to pass through a
narrow defile south of Nebi Musa it was found that the enemy covered
the approach with machine guns, and progress was stopped dead
until, during the early hours of the following morning, some of the
Londoners' artillery managed by a superhuman effort to get a few guns
over the mountains to support the cavalry. By this time the Turks
had had enough of it, and while it was dark they were busy trekking
through Jericho towards the Ghoraniyeh bridge over the river, covered
by a force on the Jebel Kuruntul track which prevented the left column
from reaching the cliffs overlooking the Jordan valley. By dawn on the
21st Nebi Musa was made good, the 1st Australian Light Horse Brigade
and the New Zealand Brigade were in Jericho by eight o'clock and
had cleared the Jordan valley as far north as the river Aujah, the
Londoners holding the line of cliffs which absolutely prevented any
possibility of the enemy ever again threatening Jerusalem or Bethlehem
from the east. This successful operation also put an end to the Turks'
Dead Sea grain traffic. They had given up hope of keeping their
landing place on the northern shores of the Dead Sea when we took
Talat ed Dumm, and one hour after our infantry had planted themselves
on the Hill of Blood we saw the enemy burning his boats, wharves, and
storehouses at Rujm el Bahr, where he had expended a good deal of
labour to put up buildings to store grain wanted for his army.
Subsequently we had so